Bittersweet
by GunRecon 11
Summary: Chara falls into a different Underground, at a different time, where monsters have just a shade more empathy. They soon learn that this isn't necessarily a good thing. Set in Underfell, with some personalities tweaked.


**Chara falls into another Underground at another time, in which the monsters have a shade more empathy. Unfortunately, that's not always a good thing.****Set in a slightly altered Underfell.**

The thing was, they woke up.

_Did I miss? _Chara wondered hazily, staring up at the sunlight. It seemed dimmer somehow, like they were wearing a really dark set of sunglasses. _How could I have possibly missed?_ They felt some degree of pain throughout their entire body, but their leg had gone completely numb. They tried to move it, and got hit with the sensation of white-hot needles from the hip down, causing a small yelp as they locked the injured leg into place, frightened by the feeling.

"Hello?" they heard a voice cry out. Chara strained their ears, but could not determine the direction of the voice. It echoed around them, off jagged rocks and archways that were almost natural-looking. "Who's there? Show yourself!"

_It is possible that may be a problem, _they thought dryly. _Since I can't move._"I'm over here!" they called out cautiously. "I can't move!"

"Well figure it out!" the voice called back irritably. Chara heard footsteps echo all around them, but one thing was certian: they were getting further away. Chara just held back the urge to scramble to their feet and chase after them.

"Please help!" they cried. "Don't leave me like this!"

"You don't know healing magic, and you didn't bring any food!" they shouted back. "It's your own fault for being such an idiot!"

"M-m-magic?'" Chara asked, confused. "Wnat?"

The footsteps stopped, and then started again, getting closer. Chara suddenly felt as though they were being chased, but chose to stay put. There was no way they could keep quite while moving their leg, so hiding was out. Not only that, but... _even if they mean me harm, it literally can't be worse than what I just tried,_ they reasoned.

A flickering red light came into full view, casting dark and twisted shadows on the cavern walls. Eventually, it got to be too much. The fallen child ignored the searing pain from jostling their leg, brought their arms to their face, and hid behind them, not wanting to see whatever terrible beast approached.

"Thought so. You're just a dirty little human aren't you?" he asked irritably. "So, they've forgotten about Magic up there, huh? Didn't take very long."

"I'm sorry," Chara whispered. "I didn't meant to-" That was a lie. They dug for the words, found them, and rephrased. "I didn't meant to get hurt like this." Better. Technically true, which was as close as they were willing to try for right now.

"Oh my God, quit being such a crybaby! Look at me!" Chara parted their arms hesitantly, to see what appeared to be a Disney animal standing over them. Well, no. Blood red eyes on a backdrop of yellow rather than white made for more of a nightmarish appearance than a dreamlike one. He wore a scowl, and whatever the source of light was, it was held close to him, casting his white fur a bloody hue.

"I-I'm sorry..." Chara whimpered. The look on his face instantly softened, and sorrow flashed through his eyes.

"You're just a child, aren't you?" Chara did not respond, too scared to say something wrong. "I'm sorry I was mean earlier, it's just...we get humans down here, from time to time, and they're never very nice." Chara nodded. The goat-person knelt down, inspecting their leg. "Can you feel it?"

"Not if I don't move it."

"And if I do this?" Searing pain shot through Chara's leg, from the hip all the way down into the bottom of their foot. They managed not to move the lege, but tore up fistfulls of grass as they cried, punching the ground. He sat the leg down gently, reducing the pain to a dull throb. "You're pretty tough, for a human child," he remarked. "There's a...a swerve in your leg? It got pinched when it broke. That's why you can't feel it if you don't move it."

"Nerve," Chara said through their teeth, staring angrily at the offending leg. "I'm sorry, can you-"

"I can make it work for now, yes," he said stiffly. A green light overtook the crimson glow in his hand, and Chara felt the most delightfully ticklish sensation wash over their body, numbing the pain and making them a bit giddy. The light vanished, leaving them in relative darkness while he took a step back, panting. "I...I'm sorry, I don't...have to do that...very often..." he offered between gasps.

"It's okay."

"Can...can you stand?"

"Uh..." Chara moved their injured leg cautiously. Little shocks ran up and down it as they moved, and they found there were some movements they could not do anymore, but it was leagues better than it was before. They cautiously stood to test their weight, and found that while it was a little shaky, it could support their weight again. "That's incredible."

"Yeah, well...don't go breaking it again. How did you fall down here?"

"I, uh..." Chara swallowed. "Can we not? I'm sorry. I don't mean to be rude."

"You don't have to tell _me_ anything," he said emphatically. "But my parents might insist. They're weird like that."

"It wasn't for...a _happy_reason, is all." The goat-person nodded as if that was all Chara needed to say. "Your parents?"

"Oh. You're a human, so...well, healing you is the exact opposite of what I'm supposed to do." Chara tensed up, but their rescuer seemed to harbor no ill intent, just stating facts. "At the same time, you're a kid, and here in the Underground, kids are off limits."

"That's a rule?"

"Unfortunately." Chara gave him an odd look, and he waved his hands frantically. "No, no, sorry, I meant 'it's unfortunate tnat they have to make it a rule, instead of people...you know...being people.'"

"Oh," Chara said, staring over the goat-person's shoulders. "What are you going to do?"

"Call them, I guess. See if we can't sort this out."

"And send me back home?"

"That's...hm. Sorry. There's a lot I can't tell you. But you just went through a great deal of work to _not _go home, I doubt...anyways." Their healer pulled out a phone, held one of the buttons for a moment, then waited. Chara could faintly hear the dial tone, which cut off. Asriel's face lit up.

"Hey Mom! Yeah, it's, uh...I was by the Ruins, and heard something...a human is here," A pause, some muffled reply. "Well, that's the thing: They're just a kid." More intense speaking followed, and the goat-person jerked his head away from the phone a bit. "I never said that! But you're the one who wrote the decree, Dad, just...yeah. Yeah, they're standing here with me." A question. Asriel paused, considering. "I...okay. No, I understand. We'll be there for dinner. Hey, uh, human?" he called out, snapping his fingers. "What's your favorite food? Preferably something sweet?" Chara, caught off guard, immediately thought of sweet potatoes for some reason.

"The, uh, sweet potato marshmallow thing!"

"Did you get that?" He nodded slowly. "Sorry, there's like six repeaters between us and you. She wants to know if you mean the stuff humans make at...Thanks giving?" he asked, the holiday apparently foreign to him. Chara nodded, and he confirmed it before hanging up. "You good?" he said motioning to the leg. Chara nodded, and the goat-person motioned for them to follow.

"Hey, uh, if you don't mind me asking...what's your name?" He paused for a moment, and looked as though he was about to tell them not to worry about it. "Sorry, I just don't want to have to call you 'goat-person' all day." His expression softened, and he nodded to himself.

"My name is Asriel. You don't...you don't have to tell me yours. It's not like there are other humans down here."

"Chara," they said back, and Asriel almost flinched.

"Well...Chara...just stay close to me, alright? The other monsters are going to be a whole lot less friendly than me. They don't like themselves or each other, and certainly don't like humans."

"I can respect that," Chara muttered bitterly, and for a second, they thought they saw Asriel smile.


End file.
